Thursday, May 29, 2014

Eric and I
recently came across a blog post that describes the normal stress levels of
cross-cultural missionaries. Here’s a snippet:

“When stress levels reach above a 200 {on the
Holmes-Rahe scale}, doctors will advise patients to make life changes– drink a
glass of wine, exercise, sleep more, that kind of thing. The goal is to keep
stress levels below 200, since anything over that can result in some incredibly
negative effects, especially over the long term. In fact, 50% of the people
scoring a 200 were hospitalized in the two years following the scoring with
heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, or other severe illnesses. Apparently, the
cumulative effect of stress on the body and mind can be an extremely damaging
one. Then, they used the same standards and scale to assess missionary stress
levels.They
found that the average missionary’s stress levels for the first year are
typically around 800-900, and the sustained stress levels of a cross cultural
worker stays around 600.”’ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/03/stress-missionary/

Our first thought was “Wow! So this is why so many
mission organizations stress self-care.” As we thought more about it,
especially about our last week, we can definitely see why many missionaries get
burned out.

This week we experienced the many normal stressors—

·Trying
to teach students who have many gaps in their education

·Trying
to support other teachers who are overworked and underpaid

·Trying
to function in a language that does not come naturally

·Missing
key pieces of information either because it is not yet available (a lot of
decisions here come last minute) or because of the language barrier. We often
feel like we are the last people in town to know what’s going on.

·Patiently
-- or not so patiently-- enduring sporadic internet that toys with our
emotions, sometimes allowing us to stream Youtube videos, but sometimes
distorting our Skype calls with family beyond the point of recognition

·Bargaining
for many of our needs in order to get a good price and still paying too much
sometimes

·Trying
to determine when and how to help when someone comes to us with a need

·Driving
30 minutes to two hours for cash, mail, and supplies, and still not always
being able to find what we need and want. And bless your heart if you forget
something on your list, because it will have to wait until the next time you
are in that town.

·Spending
40 minutes to 2 hours preparing meals every night.

·Having
things break in our house pretty much weekly thanks to low quality products
(this week it was my hairdryer and our cd player in our car. Replacing the
hairdryer meant a two-hour drive to Mwanza, so it wasn’t a quick fix).

However, we also
had some “fun” bonus stressors this week.

·Losing
power for almost two days which means terrible sleep without our fans, changes
in our menu thanks to the lack of an electric oven, minimal use of electronics
or having to find a place to recharge, and doing everything at night by
flashlight.

·Having
to siphon water into buckets from our lower water tank because the electric
pump couldn’t pump the water to the upper tank. We used those buckets to do
everything from washing dishes, hands, and clothes to flushing the toilet.

·Getting
a sliver of glass stuck in my foot that must have come in from outside

·Getting
shocked by our electric oven/stove and realizing that we are going to have to
call an electrician because it is not working properly.

·Having
our debit card—our primary source of income—rejected because there is a limit
on how much you can withdraw during a weekend. Being a national holiday weekend
in the U.S., we would have to wait four days before we could access money again.

·Coping
with the additional homesickness that usually accompanies the U.S. summer. In
the winter, we just miss the people. However, in the summer we miss family
vacations (my family will soon be en route to Hawaii for my cousin’s wedding
and Eric’s family will travel to Colorado later this summer), baby-showers,
weddings, the Deaconess Annual Meeting, reunions, and favorite summer
activities like hiking, swimming, and attending plays and festivals.

Yep, this is why we
have been told to consistently monitor our stress-levels and put in place
habits that ease the stress. Self-care is so important. Exercise, the
occasional evening walk, evening devotions/prayer, watching childhood TV shows,
talking with a Skype counselor who specializes in missionary care, listening to
music, and reading books are a few of the ways we’ve found to cope with the
daily stresses. However every now and then we just need a vacation. Two things
officially brought us to Dar Es Salaam this week—meetings with Bishop Makala at
the Ministry of Social Welfare and chaperoning our Form 4 students with their
senior trip next week—however, we’ve decided to use the time before and after
these events to breathe. We are looking forward to enjoying time with some of
our former language school friends in Dar. Then, since we are “in the
neighborhood” we will pop over to Zanzibar for three nights as a belated
birthday present to Eric and 3rd anniversary present to each other.
We pray that this time will allow us time to process the months past and rejuvenate
us for the work ahead J
Thank you to everyone who supports us in our work and in our rest.

** As a side note,
we know missionaries don’t have the market cornered on stress ;-) We pray that
you all, who work so tirelessly, also find ways to cope daily and that you get
some opportunities to breathe deeply this summer.

Linda, Eric, Michael and Julia Funke

In September of 2012, we followed God's call and moved to Tanzania. Eric teaches computers, math, and physics at Mwadui Lutheran Secondary School. Linda serves as school's guidance counselor and assists the local Lutheran diocese with development projects. In 2015, our son Michael joined our family. Then in 2017, our daughter Julia became part of our family. This blog provides space for our longer stories and reflections. If you would like to learn more about our ministry, please check out the following links: